NFL negotiators hope for deal in 9 days

NFL

Associated Press

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Less than two weeks before some training camps are scheduled to open, the NFL remains in labor limbo.

Lawyers for the two sides met Monday in New York to clarify language from previous discussions. Several issues are close to resolution, the most significant being the split of total revenues between owners and players.

But snags involving a rookie wage scale, free agency rules and benefits for retired players have slowed the process. While the league's negotiators hope they can present a new collective bargaining agreement to all the owners at their July 21 meeting in Atlanta, not striking a deal before then figures to cause postponement of the start of training camps, and probably cancellation of the Hall of Fame game Aug. 7 in Canton, Ohio.

The NFL would need about a week to get the new deal ratified and in place, meaning teams couldn't start signing free agents or draftees, make trades or begin workouts until the end of the month. That would jeopardize the first weekend of exhibition games, Aug. 11-15, at a cost of upward of $60 million in overall revenues.

At issue is how many first-round picks would fall under the wage scale, and the length of contracts teams could offer those rookies. The savings on salaries were supposed to go to veteran players and toward retirees' benefits.

One proposal, according to a person familiar with the negotiations, would limit the top overall pick to about $7 million a year for five years, with the option to renegotiate after the third year. Sam Bradford signed with St. Louis in 2010 for $78 million over six years.

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